Since I wrote about my winter running essentials and have shared some workouts, are you assuming that I’m actually training for my upcoming half marathon? That’s so kind of you. I appreciate the faith that you have in me.

It’s warranted. I’ve been training. I’ve been faithfully following a (slightly modified) training schedule from Hal Higdon, whose training plans are my all-time favorites. After hopping on the relay team at the Baltimore Running Festival rather than running the half and my frustration with the way that the Pitt half panned out, I’m dedicated to doing all that I can to make this half kick ass.

So here’s my training so far. I’m in Week 8 and it’s going well! I’ve only missed five workouts over the weeks and have about five weeks to go. I’m feeling good, even though I’ve been basically chained to the treadmill. It’s forcing me to come up with a lot of boredom-busting interval workouts (which is increasing my speed) and do more strength training, which I need. Now I just need to get some hill training, because apparently Charlottesville has some hills …

Are you training for anything? How’s it going? (And if you’ve run Charlottesville, pointers, please!)